Editors ́ Picks

Meanwhile, in space...

EDITOR:

Gurmeet Singh, Berlin

Perhaps one of the more annoying aspects of social media is the impulse to hyperbole. Moderation and sense are abandoned in favour of grand statement, grander sentiment and the far-reaches of time and space are plumbed to explicate a simple political position, an emotional trial, or whatever the subject is. The weird thing is how this tendency works across both positive and negative attitudes: a night out was THE BEST EVER; a foreign policy IS ABSOLUTELY THE DUMBEST THING SINCE THE SUEZ DEBACLE – whatever it is, IT CHANGES EVERYTHING.

Even so, one particular meme emerged after the Paris attacks – a short video of a text read by the physicist, Carl Sagan. In it, Sagan reads from one of his books, and explains that the universe is so vast that it renders human action simultaneously trivial and beautiful: trivial because of the significance we ascribe to it in such an unimaginably vast and dramatic place, and beautiful because of the fact it happens at all. This was in response to Paris attacks – the tone being to remind us all that the world is gorgeous and delicate, and that we have to take care of it – not call for reprisals against this or that group and make outrageous calls for war against this or that country.

Well, Sagan’s talk may have inspired us for a moment, but bear in mind that you might be inspired for a lifetime because of what’s happening in the next few weeks. I’m not even exaggerating.

The Lisa Pathfinder will launch on the 2nd December from the European Space Agency’s base in Guiana. It will carry components that will be tested as part of a future orbiting gravitational wave observatory.

The Guardian writes: “Gravitational waves are thought to be hurled across space when stars start throwing their weight around, for example, when they collapse into black holes or when pairs of super-dense neutron stars start to spin closer and closer to each other. These processes put massive strains on the fabric of space-time, pushing and stretching it so that ripples of gravitational energy radiate across the universe. These are gravitational waves.”

Their existence was posited by Einstein, and has been a controversial topic in astrophysics ever since. At least that’s what the Wiki article says – there’s a lot – like everything – like OH MY GOD I’M NOT KIDDING – that’s new to me here. But apparently, this launch could go a long way to finally proving Einstein right or wrong – which would be totes !!! for nerds galaxy-wide.

18.Nov

November 18th, 2015

The EU isn't at war, yet

EDITOR:

Vanessa Ellingham

France has taken the European Union into uncharted territory by obliging the other 27 member states to come to its defence following the terrorist atrocities in Paris.

Invoking article 42.7, a never used clause of the EU treaty triggering mutual defence among the 28 member states, Paris admitted it was struggling to cope with its foreign military commitments while beefing up security at home in the wake of the attacks, and asked the rest of Europe to come to its assistance.

The request was supported unanimously in what Jean-Yves Le Drian, the French defence minister, described as an emotional and highly charged meeting of EU defence ministers in Brussels.

As a result of the train attacks in Spain in 2004, the EU inserted mutual defence measures into the Lisbon treaty similar to the Nato alliance’s article five, which obliges all member countries to come to the defence of one of their number if attacked.

As the EU does not have an army, the French will now conduct a set of bilateral negotiations with other EU states on what kind of military help might be available.

So what does this mean? Well it doesn't mean that the EU is at war, as the most sensationalist of media suggested yesterday.

But it does put the union in a position it has never been in before.

Some might call it a time of renewed solidarity in Europe after a year that's seen many cracks form on the edges of the union.

Or perhaps it may prove that only mutual fear can hold the EU together.

16.Nov

November 16th, 2015

Paris: a response

EDITOR:

Gurmeet Singh, Berlin

There’s a sense in which all responses to the Paris attacks are inadequate. Everything falls short: politicising deaths, equivocating atrocities, arguing over ‘who was right’, trying to get a pop song to top the charts – and of course, writing about the events. Nothing seems to match the scale and measure of the emotion surrounding the events – a whorl of confusion around sorrow, fear, anger and anxiety. Perhaps the best response to something like this is to make no public display at all, and privately grieve. But I can also think of a better way.

Empathy is the way out. Solidarity is the way out. Empathy with victims, friends and families of victims – solidarity with people the world over who suffer the brutalities of mangled ideologies and broken administrations – this is our way out. This is the only response to the attacks in Paris which enables us to see the humanity of victims, and in doing so, preserves and enhances our own humanity.

What do I mean by humanity? I mean the sense in which we are all meaning-creating and meaningful individuals, with our own perspectives on the world and our own understandings of ourselves. I mean the sense in which we are all vulnerable. When we call out all Muslims or all refugees to suffer for these attacks, we commit a failure of compassion and initiate what could be a gross injustice. Equally, when we write that if the Parisian assailants were of a different nationality, or a different ethnicity, then we would be talking instead about mental illness and not terrorism – then we do not serve our own cause. We set up more barriers between ourselves, and whoever we perceive as truly at fault.

The atrocities committed in Paris were acts of terrorism. There are acts of terrorism the whole world over; on a day-to-day basis. Yes, we need be compassionate, empathise with people globally – but we do not need to diminish the events in Paris, to elevate in prominence the events in Beirut or Baghdad or anywhere else to make the point that we sometimes suffer lapses in compassion. As much as it hurts us to do so, we should also try our best to understand how people become terrorists and what we can do to help the stem the flow of radicalisation. This is another act of empathy and compassion.

Refugees will now suffer. Europe looks set to re-establish the fortress, brick by brick – and socially, people’s hearts will harden against more seeking homes in Europe. The right-wingers are emboldened. The state will initiate more checks, everywhere. The idea that a terrorist posing as a refugee came through the Greek border should not be dismissed out of hand – but the idea that all refugees should now pay the price should be.

All responses to Paris might be inadequate, but there some better and some worse responses. We’ve been challenged – right-wing and left, white and black, religious and not – we now have a challenge to all of our beliefs, and how we act now – not just our writing, our Facebook updates, our buying a single – is our response. We can choose to give in and squabble over which atrocity is the worst and the hypocrisy of the media; we can lobby the government to stop taking refugees. Or we can promote empathy the world over, and do our best to ensure victims’ voices are heard, and those in need of help are given it.

12.Nov

November 12th, 2015

Ken Saro-Wiwa and the Ogoni-Eight's battle should go on

EDITOR:

Murat Suner

Have you heard about Ogoniland? It's the home of about 500,000 thousand Ogoni, who are an ethnic minority situated in the Niger delta.

Ogoniland was once considered a paradise. Today, Ogoniland is being considered as one of the world's most polluted regions. Why? Because spilled oil, billions of liters of crude, devastated it.

Nigerian novellist and activist Ken Saro-Wiwa fought for the Ogoni people's rights and criticised military junta as well as oil companies.

Back in 1958, multinational oil companies started to exploit its oil fields, and so the fertile land turned into a black lunar landscape - depriving people's livelihood and sickening them.

Leading the civil "Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People" Saro-Wiwa denounced the "oil multinational's ecological war", particularly Shell.

Ken Saro-Wiwa's battle for human rights and the environment became fatal: 20 years ago he was sentenced to death and hanged.

Is Shell co-responsible?

At the time of the lawsuit Ken Saro-Wiwas brother Owens met Nigerian Shell-CEO Brian Anderson. "I asked him about my brother and the other prisoners, and he replied that it difficult, if not impossible to free them. There should be some good will by MOSOP." When Owens asked what that would mean, Anderson said MOSOP should stop its international anti Shell-campaign.

According to Deutsche Welle critics accuse Shell of complicity regarding Saro-Wiwa's and eight of his companions' death.

Not until 15 years after the executions Shell made a settlement with the surviving dependants of Ken Saro-Wiwa und the "Ogoni-Eight" in order to avoid claims for human rights violations.

According to environmental organizations more than 50 billion liters of crude oil run into Niger delta's sensitive eco-system. United Nations estimate that it'll take at least 30 years to clean up the environmental damage.

We, citizens and consumers, need to raise awareness of our economic system's impact on people's fate. Through our consumer and political behavior we are able to influence political and economic actors.

A small, but important step to achieve this, is to demand that Ken Saro-Wiwa must be pardoned posthumously.

Aung San Suu Kyi’s party has all but won Myanmar’s national elections - in fact, the ruling party has already conceded defeat.

Aung San Suu Kyi, who spent 15 years under house arrest under the military junta regime, stated just days before the election that the new government will be a government of national unity and reconciliation.

And yet in last week’s election, more than 760,000 Rohingya were denied a right to vote because Myanmar continues to deny their existence as a distinct ethnic group. Aung San Suu Kyi herself has consistently avoided specifically defending the fundamental human rights of the Rohingya.

Citizens’ entitlement to legal recognition in Myanmar is based upon belonging to a legally recognized national or ethnic community. The Rohingya are not one of the 135 officially recognized communities and thus are effectively stateless.

The ethnic Rohingya are mostly Muslim. What began as a form of systematic persecution based upon ethnicity has now spread to affect other Muslims across the country. Although a numerically small minority in a predominantly Buddhist country, Muslims have been the target of verbal and physical attacks from many quarters, particularly from followers of the Ma Ba Tha ultranationalist Buddhist movement. They have been largely prevented from participating in this election.

As a long term human rights activist, it would be fulfilling to see Aung San Suu Kyi right the wrongs committed against the Rohingya, by allowing them equal rights and recognition. In fact, she may not be eligible to lead her country herself thanks to laws leftover from the regime that targeted her, forbidding people with international ties from leading government.

Aung San Suu Kyi knows better than most the effects of regimes that refuse to include all peoples,

What she does with her power remains to be seen.

09.Nov

November 09th, 2015

Somalian flood puts tens of thousands at risk

EDITOR:

Gurmeet Singh, Berlin

Somalia, a failed state, ravaged by war and conflict, is now suffering another disaster: flooding. In the past, it has suffered from drought and top-soil being washed away, and now, more than 90,000 people have been affected by extreme flooding.

The south of the country, which still suffers from civil war is thought to be the hardest hit region. The UN office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says the number of displaced people is at a monumental 42, 000.

The floods have come as a shock to locals, who have little infrastructure to provide weather warnings, and have no governmental contingency plans when dealing with displacement. They must simply improvise, leave their homes, and take with them what they can. The extent of the economic damage to property, farms and cattle is not yet known – and is harder to estimate because of the nature of the typical climate. The climate of Somalia is much drier, and the much of the land is desert or scrub.

This year’s flood have been caused by El Nino – the natural ocean current which develops periodically in the Pacific Ocean, and causes the sea surface temperatures to be slightly warmer than usual.

Somalia is one of the world’s forgotten countries. It doesn’t seem to matter much to people that another batch of locals are displaced; for so long the country has churned out refugees and migrants, and that a simple climate disaster seems par for the course. Plus with so little settled government within the nation, people don’t have the administrative guidance and procedures in place to manage an event such as this one. But this just isn’t right.

A major national resolution to help displaced people is totally unlikely, and Somalia has to rely on outside interventions to help local people. Concern is just one organization where you can pledge your help.

04.Nov

November 04th, 2015

Australia's hard-line immigration policies hit closer to home

EDITOR:

Vanessa Ellingham

On Saturday New Zealand and Australia faced off in the Rugby World Cup but the two countries' politicians have also been going head-to-head after 80 New Zealanders have been deported from Australia since December - many who have lived almost their whole lives in Australia and have little or no remaining connection to NZ.

This is a result of controversial new Australian law which deems that people who have served prison sentences of 12 months or more can be deported without notice, even if they have been convicted of relatively petty crimes.

A couple of weeks ago a quadriplegic man was dropped off at Auckland airport after serving a short sentence for self-medicating with painkillers. He'd lived in Australia for 36 years and suddenly found himself back in New Zealand with no personal connections and only a week's accommodation voucher as support from the Australian government. No financial backing, no place to live, no notice.

Other Kiwis awaiting deportation from Australia are being held in prisons on Christmas Island where asylum seekers are also held in very poor conditions. Although fairplanet, among other human rights advocate voices, has always deplored the inhumane treatment meted out to asylum seekers there, extending this maltreatment to their mates across the Tasman Sea turns the delusion up a notch.

New Zealanders and Australians might use big talk when it comes to the sports field, but really they consider each other brothers. Just this year they jointly commemorated the centenary of the ANZAC landings at Gallipoli during WWI where both countries' soldiers fought shoulder to shoulder in a campaign which gave both young nations standing on the world stage.

Australia, although many times larger and more populous than New Zealand, has always been the 'poor cousin' when it comes to human rights. The country notoriously gave Maori the right to vote in Australia before its own indigenous peoples when a law limiting the voting rights of "uncivilized people" made an example of the surprising civility of New Zealand's native people.

With a new Prime Minister at the helm, it will be interesting to see whether Australia can pull itself out of the shameful human rights reputation afforded during Tony Abbott's leadership. so far, not so good.

03.Nov

November 03rd, 2015

Shell's claims about cleaning up Niger delta are false

EDITOR:

Murat Suner

In March this year, Royal Dutch Shell admitted to more than 200 oil spills in the Niger Delta. By contrast, on average, there were only 10 spills a year across the whole of Europe through the last forty years.

“In any other country, this would be a national emergency. In Nigeria it appears to be standard operating procedure for the oil industry. The human cost is horrific – people living with pollution every day of their lives." she continued.

Claims by oil giant Shell that it has cleaned up heavily polluted areas of the Niger Delta are blatantly false, Amnesty International and the Centre for Environment, Human Rights and Development (CEHRD) said in a new report published today.

The report is being published to mark the 20th anniversary of the execution, on 10 November 1995, of the environmental activist and writer, Ken Saro-Wiwa, who campaigned tirelessly against the damage caused by the oil industry in the Niger Delta.

According to Amnesty, four oil spill sites in Nigeria identified by the UN, which Shell has claimed to have had cleaned up by contractors since 2011, are still polluted.

Unep inspectors said, “Nothing appears to have been done about the pollution,” and urged an immediate decontamination in more than 60 other heavily polluted sites in Niger delta, all of which, they said, had been left untouched or only cursorily cleaned up by Shell and other oil companies since the 1970s.

Mark Dummett, researcher at Amnesty, said: “By inadequately cleaning up the pollution from its pipelines and wells, Shell is leaving thousands of women, men and children exposed to contaminated land, water and air, in some cases for years or even decades. Anyone who visits these spill sites can see and smell for themselves how the pollution has spread across the land.”

Image: Oil polluted periwinkles (an edible sea snail), that fishermen sell to make a living

There has recently been a tightening of rules further limiting criticism of the Communist party.

Zhao's credibility has been in question for some time; after joining the party in 1984 and becoming editor of the paper in 2011, there have been allegations of wrongdoing, misappropriation and condoning injustices.

The policies he criticised include Beijing's attempts to grapple with a 'low-level' insurgency in the West of the country. The government has said it is dealing with religious extremism in the region. Beijing launched the 'people's war on terror' last year, after a series of attacks on civilians in the region. The nation's west is made up of various Muslim communities, some of whom claim they are the victims of government oppression.

The curbing of the freedom to criticise the government, party and its policies is becoming part of a more serious confrontation between the government and its detractors. The party is in control to fire who it pleases, to establish laws that curb criticism of its policies - but it might also indicate a growing level of insecurity at the heart of the government.

28.Oct

October 28th, 2015

Child abuse images banned in Japanese manga comics

EDITOR:

Vanessa Ellingham

Japan must ban sexually abusive images of children in manga comics, despite claims that such a move would threaten freedom of expression, says the UN’s special envoy on child protection.

Maud de Boer-Buquicchio praised the country for passing a law last year that banned the possession of abusive images of children, but said it contained loopholes that allowed exploitation to continue.

“When it comes to particular, extreme child pornographic content, manga should be banned,” De Boer-Buquicchio said at the end of a week-long visit to Japan.

The UN’s special rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, acknowledged that artists and publishers faced difficulty in “finding the right balance” between artistic freedoms and the need to protect children. “I accept that the freedom of expression argument should prevail when it comes to adult pornography.”

In June 2014, Japan banned the possession of child sexual abuse imagery after years of delay, but disappointed campaigners by not including the multibillion-yen market in manga comics, animated films and video games.

There was a grace period of a year to comply, but lawbreakers now face prison terms of up to a year and fines of up to 1m yen (£5,500).

Manga

artists and publishers have long resisted government attempts to ban certain images, labelling it an attack on freedom of expression. Dan Kanemitsu, a manga translator, accused de Boer-Buquicchio of “mixing reality with fiction”, adding that there was a difference between abusive images featuring actual children and depictions of childlike characters in manga.

“There is no such thing as manga and anime child pornography,” he said. “Child pornography entails the involvement of children, and we must confront it for that reason. [De Boer-Buquicchio] meant sexualised depictions of childish looking characters in manga and anime. Many male and female artists in Japan draw characters in an art style that looks childish to western eyes. Therefore it is a rejection of an art style popular in Japan.”

Kanemitsu said he did not believe Japan’s resistance to expanding the ban to include manga would damage its international image. “I think many people will see the logic of protecting free speech, as long as no actual people are harmed,” he said.